I read about the news on Last Resort being cancelled a couple of weeks ago. It’s a pity since most submarine TV series seem to get the short end of the stick no matter how interesting they seem. One high profile submarine drama that was put out of its misery after three seasons on NBC was seaQuest DSV. I was a big fan of the show can still remember reading the comments the late Rob Scheider made regarding the show, and he was probably right about them.

While SeaQuest was kinda like Star Trek, but underwater, Last Resort is somewhere along the lines of Hunt for the Red October with a little bit of Lost thrown in for good measure. The story, about a submarine captain questioning orders and taking the sub and its entire crew rogue by parking it next to an exotic tropical island (rumoured to have rare earth minerals, and comes with a U.N monitoring station..how convenient) although intriguing, is something more suited for the silver screen and at most a 3 or 4 episode TV mini series.

Other than the pilot 2-hour episode that pique my interest in the show in the first place, one of my favourite episodes was “Skeleton Crew“. With some really tense negotiations happening on the island between Captain Chaplin and Secretary of Defense Curry, the U.S.S Colorado is out in the open sea with Lt. Shepard and a skeleton crew playing cat and mouse with the U.S Navy.

Another notable episode would be the Star Trek-ish “Another Fine Navy Day” where everyone goes unconscious or bonkers after being exposed to a hallucinogen, BZ. Honestly though, I wasn’t hoping that Last Resort would make it to a second season. The way the series positioned itself, makes it very hard for me to see how Captain Chaplin and his crew can get their wish to return home. They did launch that nuke (missing on purpose) at Washington D.C.

With the cancellation, the show’s creator, Shawn Ryan has confirmed that the final episode (Episode 13, since an entire season was not purchased) is being reworked to give the show a proper finale. I wonder what would happen then, any of you would want to hazard a guess? I’m torn between all out nuclear holocaust or the Colorado leaving its tropical paradise and going on the run.

Speaking of tropical gateways, fancy a travel dealto Penang or to Krabi for that matter? I’ve been to Penang last weekend for the Penang International Marathon, and it has been awesome, especially the food, and I’ve visited Krabi last year, totally awesome place. For more of my travel entries, check out the Travelogue category of Nineoverten.com, and while you are at it, check out the best travel deals around.

We came into Penang on Saturday only to be greeted by blistering hot weather at Queensbay Mall, the starting and end point of the Penang Bridge International Marathon 2012. Knowing full well that our race would start early on Sunday morning (2 a.m. for the full, and 3 a.m. for the half marathon), we grabbed my race pack, did a quick tour of the expo and the mall and head out for lunch and to the hotel.

We carpooled with a bunch of my colleagues, all of which were doing the full marathon, to the race site at about 12.15 a.m. Parking was easy since the crowd was just still coming in. The early birds were mainly full marathoners running at 2 a.m, but there were a number of half and 10K runners hanging about. We spent the time seating around, saying hi to a bunch of KL-based runners (barefoot or otherwise, they run the gamut) and using the toilets.

The FM race started right on the dot at 2, and immediately we were funneled past Queensbay Mall, passing the shop lots before making a couple of left turns running into Bayan Lepas. This part of the route was interesting as we can see the high tide bringing the water level right next to that of the road and the narrow parts of the route made it a crowded run, despite there were not many Full Marathon runners to begin with.

The thing about the Penang Marathon is that it has three U-Turns (and they are not my favourite thing in the world), and we hit the first one after passing by some factories. The run back towards Queensbay Mall brought us with incoming runners, but it was OK since everyone seem to have stuck to their proper (albeit unmarked) lanes. It was here that I felt that my right knee starting to lock up, which was a bit strange since I didn’t expect that to happen for another 30 kilometers. I brought the pace down to somewhere around 6 and a half minutes per KM after this point.

We ran on the highway, past Queensbay Mall, towards the Penang Bridge. I made pretty good progress as we hit the bridge. The incline at the middle of the bridge was a stretch where a number of runners decided to just walk it. I was still fine at this point and ran up and down, only to face a well disguised gradual incline up until the mainland. There was a strange lack of distance markers in a full marathon and it was back to counting numbers in my head to find out how much more to go.

I must say that while the water stations on the course were well stocked, they were still in the habit of giving out bottles of water to the runners. Granted that the humidity was really high for a morning run, bottles don’t really do much (besides drinking, you are not going to go pouring water over your head every single time, right…), and they are a pain to clear.

I also have to question why some runners have to put empty bottles at the concrete railings on the side of the bridge. All you need is some strong gusts of wind to topple these bottles down into the sea…just ditch those bottles on the road or the bin and the cleaners (thumbs up to these guys) will do the rest.

We did the second u-turn at the mainland, going for a big one via the highway maintenance route. They were giving out bananas at this point which I skipped. I took my second Power Gel here, after taking one before hitting the bridge. A couple of years ago when I was running on the bridge, we were battered by a thunderstorm, but there was no such thing this time as it was high humidity all the way. I saw a couple of pacers abandoning their pace balloons. LOL.

The third leg of the run had us running towards Georgetown. This was also the part that tore me up a bit. After running for more than 30 kilometers, I decided it was time to walk a little. I was alternating between running and walking and it was considered prudent since I had to deal with about 4 highway overpasses on the way to the u-turn just before the traffic lights in Georgetown. I was about to lose my head (I don’t like u-turns, they are demoralizing) but I felt much better after passing the u-turn.

It was at the water-station at the third and final u-turn where I took the packet of GU. Now this thing has 80mg of caffeine, much more than a single Power Gel. I purposely left it for last knowing that the high amount of caffeine would help numb the pain in my legs and to deal with the 4 overpasses again (since it was a u-turn heading back that direction) and I managed to go on a decent clip past the 35 KM mark before running and walking again after that.

Nearing the bridge, I can still see FM runners making their way down, running towards Georgetown. I saw three of my colleagues, one was a 6-hour pacer, and the other 2 would finish post 7-hours on their feet. I also saw a friend of my wife’s and an ex-colleague. I’m going to hazard a guess that there were plenty of Full Marathon virgins this time around. Hehehe. After passing the bridge and heading back to Queensbay, I bumped into the 10 K runners making their way back as well.

This was a considerable improvement compared to previous years whereby the 10K runners started on the same side of the road as when the FM runners were coming back. This year, everyone was moving back in the same direction and the only thing we had to deal with was people just stopping here and there..but if you ask me, this beats running into opposing traffic every,single time.

I met a friend in the final 3 kilometers to Queensbay Mall. He was ahead of me in the early stages of the race, but faltered as he was getting cramps. We were walking at this stage but after realising that we were really close in coming in after 5 hours 30 minutes, we decided to finish with a sprint with 500 meters to go. I managed to clock in at 5 hours 29 minutes. Phew.

It was terrible compared to my personal best but hey, I’m happy that I got to run the entire length of the bridge and back, given that next year’s event will be on the new Second Bridge which is currently under construction. To the organizers, thanks for the race (but again, water bottles) and the nice medal/finisher-T. Just one request from my brother: Do provide finisher shirts for the Half Marathoners as well next time.

I’ve been to Dubai back in 2007 and 2008 and I absolutely love that city. From dune-bashing in the desert, sun-bathing at Jumeirah beach, visiting the souks in Old Dubai or the huge brand new shopping malls that have come to define Dubai as larger than life (I stayed nearby the Mall of the Emirates, with Ski Dubai right at my hotel window), there are so many things to do there.

If you are in Dubai for a visit, be sure to check out Leading Brands Publishing’s Dubai 2012 app; it’s a beautifully made and informative travel guide app to the city built for the iPad and optimized as well for the new Retina Display iPad. Check out the app’s description on the App Store:

Dubai 2012 is a feature-rich digital travel book for the iPad. Packed full of information about the hottest restaurants, trendiest bars and most luxurious hotels, Dubai 2012 gives savvy travellers unique insights into this bustling city through video and web features. With Dubai fast becoming one of the world’s premier tourism, business and transit destinations, a truly useful and stylish travel guide is needed to get around this city which has limited street addresses.

The Dubai 2012 e-guide offers quick and simple navigation through hotels, dining experiences, nightlife, shopping, sightseeing and outdoor adventures, along with a map with points of interest; perfect for visitors to Dubai whether it’s for a few hours, days or weeks. Dubai 2012 is a new generation travel guide; at the touch of button readers can watch select pop-up videos to experience local activities like a trip down the creek on an abra (tradition boat) or get a view inside a shopping mall, giving them the choice to decide where they really want to spend their time.

Not only designed for tourists, the guide offers Dubai locals a chance to explore restaurants and attractions that are slightly off the beaten track. Showing expats and locals that there are plenty of options to explore other than the usual places and giving a fresh perceptive to readers which live in the U.A.E. Dubai is a city that is known for its fast pace of life and Dubai 2012 captures this energy through its use of videos showing the city in motion.

Embedded hyperlinks in the travel guide make it an invaluable tool for visitors to easily plan and book many of the exciting activities Dubai has to offer. Dubai 2012 will be updated with the latest in locally filmed and promotional videos so that readers will always have a view into the city.

I flew into Hong Kong for an 8-day holiday on the 5th of October. On the morning of the 6th of October, barely 5 minutes after wishing my fiancé Happy Birthday, I saw on TV breaking news on the death of Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. The impact on Hong Kong news media was immediate and although I spent the entire day in Disneyland, I heard that the media, both print and TV had a field day.

The newly opened Apple Store at IFC is Hong Kong’s only official store. It is barely a month old and is now transformed into a part shrine to Steve Jobs. It’s pretty easy to understand the sentiment the people of Hong Kong have for Apple’s iconic innovator. Take a look around at the passengers in the always packed mass transit systems, and you are bound to find iDevices around you.

The iconic image of the Apple logo with Steve Jobs’ silhouette replacing the usual “bite” was created by a 19 year old Hong Kong student. It has now taken its place as THE ultimate tribute to the man, and at the same time has become a great source of pride for the people here.

I went over to the IFC today, to see for myself the shrine that came about. The atmosphere was one not unlike a celebrity’s funeral. There were post-it notes stuck to one side of the store, and even a wreath of flowers. Even before I managed to find the Apple Store, I over heard people asking where is “ping guo”? That’s Apple in Cantonese, the local dialect.

I snapped the following collage of photos, higher res ones to follow after I’m back from my holiday

It’s been a rather crazy first day at Hong Kong for us, having landed at HKIA 15 minutes ahead of schedule and then proceeding straight to the discount stores at Citygate. Wednesday was a public holiday for both China and Hong Kong, so in addition to the extra discounts on offer for branded goods such as luxury brand Coach and numerous clothing labels, there were plenty of nouveau rich mainland Chinese to gawk at.

Having spent a number of hours at City gate, we only made a move to our hotel in Wan Chai in the afternoon. Located on Hong Kong island itself, the hotel was a 10 minute walk from the MTR station exit, bags and all. Oddly though I found that the pace that Hongkies go about doing their stuff is not much different from Malaysians. I thought they would have much more in common with Singaporeans.

Anyways, another interesting note is that air-conditioning is crazy cold EVERYWHERE. I can go on a walkabout without breaking a sweat and this is quite different in Malaysia or Singapore.

We headed out to the Wan Chai ferry terminal to catch the boat to Tsim Tsa Tsui. From there we managed to get really nice shots of Central’s cityscape. Like everything else in Hong Kong at night, it was bright, colorful and full of neon.

Walking was the order of the night at Tsim Tsa Tsui. Arena of Stars was located nearby the ferry terminal. Basically it’s a tourist trap with these “professional” photogs setting up stalls and charging an exorbitant price for taking photos of you with a stunning backdrop of Central at night.

We had dinner in the area, basically it was roast goose and fried rice before heading to Mongkok. Here’s where things get even crazier. Argyle Street was playing host to street performers and folks selling anything from broadband plans, tablets and even writing what I assume to be protest notes on the STREET.

Street food was available in abundance here, having tried Stinky Tofu and fried pig intestines dipped in soy sauce! We headed back to Wan Chai via the MTR after that and we are going to have a busy Day 2. We are heading to Disneyland!

A number of my trips overseas suffered from the lack of Internet connectivity, making it difficult to check for local interests whenever it comes to travel apps that require Internet connection, especially those that have maps. Well, I’ll be heading to Hong Kong tomorrow (lol, indie game developers over there, here’s your chance for a meet-up), and I’ll be bringing several apps with me that will hopefully ease the pain.

First up is Lonely Planet Hong Kong. At USD 5.99 (click here), it’s a bit pricy but beats lugging a thick paperback book around. This e-book app contains plenty of information (as expected from a high-priced travel book) and features an offline map. OK, the second map is a little more interesting. In preparation for the Hong Kong trip, I took the liberty of marking down places of interest on a map I created on Google Maps.

To view these places offline I use My Maps by Ruths R & D (USD 1.99, here) . Basically what it does is it downloads the places onto a map hosted on the iDevice. You can then download the map tiles (courtesy of OpenStreetMap). The download of tiles can be an intensive one, depending on the area and the zoom level that you require, so I really recommend that you do so before your trip. I’m doing it now while I’m sitting here at the dining table typing this post out.

Last but not least, is the MTR Mobile app, which is basically a guide to Hong Kong’s train system. It’s the only free app in the list (check it out here), but it contains a journey planner and station information. Fortunately for me, I’ll be grabbing one of those maps (being able to read maps is a blessing on this kind of trip), so I wouldn’t be draining juice from the iPhone just by relying on these apps.

Day 3 in Saigon and what happened here was even crazier than the stomach churning desert safari I had in Dubai 4 years ago. Earlier today I went for a half day trip to he CuChi tunnels located about 75 kilometers from Saigon.

These tunnels are a complex series of tunnels utilized by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war against American soldiers. So while the Americans were busy trying to bomb these Viets back to the stone age, they hid underground, striking at American ground troops when the opportunity presented itself.I crawled through 100 meters of the tunnels which were especially restored and enlarged for foreign tourists. Those with claustrophobia or heart conditions or are simply too fat shouldn’t be attempting this.

Now a tourist spot, the CuChi tunnel is also THE place in Vietnam where you can get to fire weapons used during the war. This of course takes place above ground and I spent USD 14 on 10 AK47 bullets. The rush while firing the gun was exhilarating. This was tempered by a visit to the War Remnants Museum back in Saigon. This was a sobering reminder on the horrible aftermath of war. The effects of the fighting, the landmines and especially chemical warfare in the form of Agent Orange are available here for all to see in addition to the military hardware left by the Americans.

People in the Mekong delta region are really crazy about their afternoon (after lunch) siesta and hammocks. You can see for yourself on the 3 hour bus ride to the region; there are plenty of road side stops that serve the famous Vietnamese coffee and at the same time provide hammocks and long backed metal frame chairs for people to take a nap on.

It was my first time in a decade or so since I last sat in a hammock, and true enough I nearly fell in my first new attempt to sit on one yesterday afternoon. That took place in a small restaurant on one of the numerous islands in the Mekong delta. I found out that lying down on a hammock and reading Lonely Planet off the iPhone is really relaxing, decadent even, when done in a busy place like KL (like that’s gonna happen).

In any case the trip to the Mekong delta involved visiting the Cai Be floating market which unlike the one in Bangkok, Thailand, stuff are sold wholesale. We visited several cottage industries and saw the preparation of the region’s sweets and snacks.

I’ll bd going out of town from Saigon as well today, to visit the Cuchi Tunnels. These tunnels are apparently not for the claustrophobic and were used by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. There’s a firing range there as well, hopefully I get to fire a few rounds off an AK47.

Saigon is such a crazy place. While not as dirty as Jakarta, the motorcycles are like huge swarms of bees choking the roads. Crossing a street is may, to a first time visitor, feel like committing suicide but once you get used to it, it’s like Moses parting the Red Sea. Traffic actually make way for you and their cacophony of honks is generally to inform you that they are there and they see you!

While access to Facebook is non-existent, think it got banned here or something, I’m pretty impressed at the Internet speed I’m getting and the prevalence of WiFi hotspots. It’s pretty easy to stay “connected” to the ‘Net if you have a need for it.

The Lonely Planet guide on the iPhone has been quite a help. However some of the information wasn’t up to date or just missing. It didn’t even have the Central Post Office on the map and the GPS functionality breaks the offline maps every once in a while. It’s best to use the app in conjunction with the hotel map.

I’m heading off to the Mekong Delta region today, so stay tuned for updates.

I’ll be off to Saigon (a.k.a Ho Chi Minh City, in Vietnam) for the next four days for a holiday :). Given the apparent prevalence of WiFi hotspots over there, I probably get the opportunity to blog. In the mean time, the iPhone version of Lonely Planet’s Ho Chi Minh City guide will serve as a guide. I bought it for USD 5.99 and it features offline maps with GPS integration! Pretty cool huh?